Zachary Updates!

Dear Kate and Riley,
In continuing with the catch up theme we have a lot of Zachary updates!

Zach--

Started preschool


Turned 3!








Zachary is SO much fun right now and can be a handful. He talks. Oh, does he ever talk. He is very articulate and he really just never stops talking, singing, or just making noise of some kind. He LOVES his baby brother, he loves his buddies, he loves preschool, the gym and gymnastics. He does NOT love being forced to sit still for any amount of time, being asked to be quiet, or being told he can't do something.

He loves "Cars" and "Thomas the Train" and I LOVE to listen to him play pretend with them. He is into acting out elaborate scenarios with them and I love when he repeats with his cars things I've said to him.

He repeats EVERYTHING I say to him so I'm learning to be more careful! My favorites in the past little while are--
while getting him dressed one day-- "Mom, I don't have TIME for this!"
to Brady-- "You're killin' me!"
to me-- "I"m so mad at you right now Mom. Don't talk to me like that"
me-- "Like what?"
"like you're mad"
to Dad-- "No way, Jose!"

We love our Zachary, he makes us laugh every single day.

Love,
Mom

Disneyland and Sea World

Dear Kate and Riley,

Still catching up...
Our Disneyland passes were unblocked so we have been able to go back a few times, but not many pictures!




We were also able to spend a Sat. at Sea World with the Carlsons

Loving their popsicles. Zach apparently doesn't share his mother's sensitive teeth as he just bit right through the whole popsicle!

The boys favorite place-- the big bounce house. Zach was asking about it from the second we got there.

Love this picture! Best buddies. Not sure about the hand on the leg but seirously so cute, these two love each other.

So this is sad but the only picture I had from Disneyland of Brady was exactly the same (same outfit and everything) I swear we take the kid out of the stroller sometimes!

Shamu!

Too cool

There, see, we do take him out of the stroller!

Love,

Mom

Brady Turned 8 months

Dear Kate and Riley,

In other catch up news, Brady turned 8 months (a while ago).

--He is officially crawling. First army crawl but now the full on speedy crawl all over the house
--Pulling up onto his knees but not to standing, yet (but I think its soon)

--So vocal! I love his jabbering but sometimes it is so loud!

--Happy, happy, happy

--Working hard on those teeth (which is putting sleep back into a not so great place)

--Eating puffs and "num nums" (rice crackers) but gagging on anything else that's not totally pureed, no interest in anything with a little texture to it

Zach loves, loves playing with him and the other day after playing with him for a half hour on the floor he kept hugging him over and over and said to me "I love having a baby brother". And my heart melted! He always says "wait mom, I need to just play with Brady for a couple minutes". And whenever we're in the car without Zach, Brady cries the whole time.

Love,

mom

Catch up!

Dear Kate and Riley,

I have SO much to catch up on. My laptop died thanks to a newly mobile Brady who unplugged it while in stealth mode and it decided to never start again. My desktop doesn't like blogger for some reason so I finally suckered Dad into bringing home his laptop from work so I could catch up a little!



In September--







Grandpa Great (aka Grandpa Hansen, aka Russel) passed away



We headed up to Salt Lake for the FOURTH time this year for his funeral. It was a beautiful event where my Aunt Kathy and my Dad spoke and gave wonderful talks remembering my Grandfather.

The things I'll always remember about my Grandfather--

-- his beautiful garden. I loved nothing more than to visit their back yard in the spring/summer when the flowers were blooming. To eat the pears (oh the pears), the apricots, the raspberries, the apples, I could go on. He worked so hard and carefully in that garden, he was just a worker.

--always reading, always had a book to talk about, always up on current events

-- waking up in the morning (I lived there one summer and spent many weekends there) to the sound of Grandfather playing his harmonica

--his TV commentary. Oh I don't know if any of my siblings or cousins share this memory (as I'm sure they do the others) but I thought watching TV with my Grandfather was an utterly amusing experience. He had these total no nonsense tell it as you see it comments about everything. I remember him talking about Kelly Ripa being so fat and pregnant, Oprah gaining weight, the terrible singers on American Idol. Maybe they are one of those "you had to be there" things but I loved watching tv with him. And I think i can thank my grandparents for my loves of both Amazing Race and Dr. Phil (although they watched him in his Oprah days not his own show days)


And really, my cousin, Megan who is much more eloquent than I am, said everything I wanted to on her blog so I'm copying it more so I have it here than because I think anyone else wants to read it! Just replace "my mother" for my Aunt Kathy and "my uncle Ross" for my Dad and I think you have it...



The service was wonderful and yet another reminder at how they give us each an opportunity to celebrate the accomplishments of life, and to bask in each other's company. I love my family. I am so thankful that we can pick up right where we left off (which happened to be only 8 weeks ago.) As the family walked into the service we were greeted with lovely harmonica music - a passion of my grandfathers'. My mother gave the eulogy and she was beautiful and eloquent. She told stories of my grandfather's hard upbringing and how he was able to shed a somewhat rough life and start a new one with my grandmother. He was a master gardener and we all obsessed over the fruits and vegetables that he would grow. He always had a book that he was reading - this obsession with reading stems from both my grandmother (who would like to come back in her next life as a librarian) and my grandfather. Following the eulogy, the grandchildren were coerced into singing - we did this ONLY because our grandmother requested it of us, and all said a silent prayer that the congregation would forgive us our singing shortcomings - I think everyone had a secret plan to just start crying so they could blame the Tone Def-ness on the tears.



My uncle Ross also spoke. He gave several wonderful stories and managed to even work a river-rafting story in complete with a nudist colony as one of the elements of the story. (It also occurred to me that he is similar to my Father-in-law when it comes to outings and NOVICES. "It's just a small _____ (insert torture of choice: hike, canoe, raft, walk, swim, biking) expedition." The next thing you know - you're scaling the side of a mountain...He quoted poetry a favorite in the Hansen family - where anything other than a degree in English - is ridiculous! He spoke of my Grandfather's favorite poem by Myrna Welch "The Touch of the Master's Hand". I'm sure that as everyone sat and listened to him, they also tried to see how much of the poem they could recall from memory - without having to turn the program over to check their lines. It's a status symbol to be able to throw down on the poems ya know. A sister in the ward sang "Goin' Home" and it was stunningly beautiful. It made me think who I could recruit for my own funeral to sing such sweet, beautiful, comforting lines to those in attendance. Funerals are like that - they make you reflect on your own. (Taylor and I have ours all planned out - I prefer Invictus for my poetry- Scatter Sunshine for my hymn - and we both would like a tasty machaca throw-down dinner to follow - in case anyone is interested.)


Thanks for letting me steal that Megan :)

I hope that you were there to greet your great Grandfather with open arms. I have visions of him gardening in a garden with no weeds and where the flowers always bloom.

Love,
Mom

7 months!

Dear Kate and Riley,
So I might be a week and a half late on this one but better late than never! Brady has found a little bit of a personality and a little bit of a temper this month! He is too funny as separation anxiety has hit and he does NOT like mom out of his sight and can express it VERY loudly! Whenever I set him down or leave the room he is sure to make his displeasure known. But big brother is a good distraction and with him around I can usually still get a few things done. Zach and Brady are best buds lately, I think as Brady grows, can sit and likes toys more, reacts more, etc. Zach has shown a much greater interest in him. Sometimes to Brady's detriment as Zach thinks that Brady is ready for wrestling matches and roughhousing. "Please don't SIT on your brother" is a line I find myself using almost daily. Brady wants whatever Zach has at the moment and I don't think Zach knows what's coming as soon as this kid can move a little better.

This month Brady--
-can sit very steady, rarely falls over except when he decides he wants to reach something
-can roll to most any destination he chooses
-can scoot backwards quite a bit and lately has gotten a little forward momentum
-has really taken to eating but is kind of picky! He loves any fruit but is not a big fan of most veggies although I can get him to eat almost anything but green beans
-is on a pretty regular nap schedule (finally!)
-after a little "encouragement" which involved moving Zach temporarily into our room, is FINALLY sleeping through the night (yay!) he still wants to wake up at 5 am but we're working on moving that to at least 6 (which is why Zach is still in our room, boo)
-seems to be finally growing a little. He gained 1/2 a pound in a month and the doctors seemed satisfied, he is finally up to size 3 diapers and fitting into more 6-12 month clothes although he can still wear most 3-6 month and even some 0-3 month! He's still a little guy.
-has decided he hates the carseat, you should see him arch his back and scream when I try to put him in!
-despite his "mom" issues is overall a happy baby still and we love him SO much. I love that Zach is loving him so much lately, he never lets me go get him out of the crib without wanting to come with and he leans over the crib and yells "BRADERATOR!" and he's always concerned about where Brady is or if Brady is crying. Its so much fun.

Love,
Mom

This one morning Zach made he and Brady a "house" (all the pillows piled around) and then brought out almost all of his cars and trains to "share". He kept telling me "mom! I'm sharing with Brady!" it was so cute and Brady loved it.

Brady with everything Zach decided to share with him. Please excuse Phineas and Ferb in the background, Zach had a slight obsession this summer.

Hanging out at the pool eating goggles

Because he often bathes with Zach he now thinks that sitting is the only way to go. I seriously made Zach lay down in the bathtub until he was almost 1! I can't believe Brady already insists on sitting, its a little scary since he has a tendency to try to reach things and then fall in face first. But he doesn't seem to mind and I'm always right there.

He LOVES taking a bath with Zach. And Zach doesn't seem to mind that I'll only put in like an inch of water! I wish I had gotten this picture straight on, Zach was making him laugh so hard that day.

Camping

Dear Kate and Riley,
Last weekend we had our first family camping trip! It was something we've been talking about doing for a long time but always seemed to have a good excuse (pregnant or new baby) not to. But when our neighbors decided to plan a trip we figured we couldn't pass it up. We headed up by Malibu to Point Mugu with the Taylors and the Massies. We had a lot of fun even though Brady didn't seem to be a fan of sleeping in the tent at night. But Zach loved rolling in the dirt and we found out that getting to pee in the bushes did wonders to help with potty training. We made s'mores, threw rocks in the ocean, hunted for treasure, sang and played guitar and played in the blow up pool. We can't wait to do it again!

We were lucky to borrow a big tent from the Taylors which could hold the air mattress and the pack and play, hey I'm not into roughing it too much!

Dan and Jeremy took out the kayaks but it was too cold for anyone else to attempt!

I have this picture as the background on my computer except its Zach in the same outfit. With the hoodie and the binkie they really look a lot alike. Their differences really lie in the lips and the ears.

We found out the BOB can actually serve as a triple stroller (might come in handy some day!)

The last clean picture!

Corn on the cob!

L went to town on the ribs!

Loving the fire, notice the potty in the background, we can't go anywhere without it right now!

Sunset with (as Zach has dubbed him) the Braderator

Love those blue eyes. It actually got pretty chilly at night!

S'mores!

Dad's genius contribution to the trip, take a reeses, melt it on the graham cracker and then make your s'more, it was a bite of heaven I tell you!

We had such varieties we all had to have multiple s'mores

Dan's metal detector was a hit. The kids would dig for him. They found lots of bottle caps and a few coins.

Since the ocean was super cold we made our own little oasis and it was perfect!

Zach doing his own marshmallows and "Crazy Dan" with the hatchet in the background.

Summer has flown by. I can't believe its almost over and we'll be back to more of a schedule soon. I can't decide if I'm so sad or a little relieved!

Love,
Mom

Jackson Hole

Dear Kate and Riley,
I think the summer might end before I even get through July! I feel so behind. Let's see if I can manage to sum up the rest of the vacation.
After the Hansen reunion ended our little clan of Hansens (minus uncle Bret-- just a few more months!) headed up to Jackson Hole. I was so excited because I haven't been since I was pregnant with you and even then I couldn't do anything.

We hiked Jenny lake (another chance for Zachary to whine a LOT!), swam and paddled around in String Lake, the "big" kids ran the rapids (thank you SO much to Grandma Janice who helped watch kids while Zachary barfed!) and got a gigantic burger at Billy's in town. It was a short but really fun trip.

Zachary ended the Jackson trip with pinkeye and a double ear infection. As sad as that was, I have to say a sick Zachary (as long as it doesn't involve barf) is actually a pretty good traveler. He was so out of it he just rested in his car seat the whole time.

We had SO much fun and love spending time with the families. We can't wait for uncle Bret to get home in December so we can all be together again!

Clint, Summer and Zach starting the hike to hidden falls

We took the ferry across the lake which cut off a few miles of the hike, good thing!

Zach loves Aunt Jenny

Best story from this day, some people were commenting on Brady in the backpack saying look how cute, etc. Then this little boy says "Look! That baby has monkey ears!" it was so funny, and yes, a little true. I wasn't offended but I think the mother of the kid who said it was mortified!

Hidden falls, not sure why this is so overexposed!

The next day was String Lake. Papa Ross took Ali and Zach out on the kayak

mom got a turn

Dad and Zach

Uncle Clint about to attempt his roll in the kayak (it was unsuccessful)

The water was actually really warm, the kids had a blast

Papa Ross didn't attempt a roll but still got a turn in the kayak

Grandma Janice got in on the fun

We saw this monster on the way home that day. It was awesome and of course Zach was asleep. We also saw buffalo, foxes and a bald eagle on this trip but didn't get any pictures of those

We roasted s'mores inside our cabin

The last day we were there was Grandma Janice's birthday. She chose to go out without us (I can't IMAGINE not wanting to go to a restaurant with five children under 4! ;) ) we celebrated with brownies that night

Our rafting pictures were the best but we haven't ordered them and I can't copy the images from the website. The links might work for a while if you click here, here and here you can see that Dad and Papa Ross and I all got thrown out of the raft and in one of the pictures you can see my legs straight up and down in the air!

Ok, I think that FINALLY sums up our July vacation!

Love,
mom